The annual Perseid meteor shower will put on a show above Maricopa tonight with as many as 40 to 50 meteors streaking across the night sky.

The Perseids is often called the most popular meteor shower in the Northern Hemisphere, according to NASA. But while the meteor shower peaks tonight, bright moonlight is expected to reduce visible rates by at least 75%, leaving only the brightest meteors for viewing.

“The average person under dark skies could see somewhere between 40 and 50 Perseids per hour,” said Bill Cooke, lead for NASA’s Meteoroid Environments Office . “Instead, you’re probably going to see 10 to 20 per hour or fewer, and that’s because we have a bright moon in the sky washing out the fainter meteors.”

The American Meteor Society explains that Perseids are caused by de

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